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With 3D printing the new black, it won't surprise you that innovation seems to still be alive and kicking in this fast growth market.

According to a recent report by the McKinsey Global Institute, 3D printing could generate economic impact of $230 billion to $550 billion per year by 2025, and the largest source of potential impact among sized applications would be from consumer uses, followed by direct manufacturing and the use of 3D printing to create tools and molds.

So brace for it - everyone is 3D printing - from jewellery to clothing to pottery to robotic hands, body parts and arms and even food. But to some, the process still seems intimidating, printers that have been purchased go idle and buying a 3D printer is still foreign to some folks.

3Hubs - Can connect you to 540 3D printing communities

With 3D printing, the factories of the future could become community-run micro-operations. Products could be made on-demand and closer to their point of purchase - Bram de Zwart, CEO and co-founder, 3D Hubs

A start up in the Netherlands has embraced the 3D craze and decided to bring it to the people with their collaborative 3D Hubs concept. Backed by a dash of undisclosed seed money from Balderton Capital in London and a solid business plan, they have tapped into a market that needed tapping.

Bram de Zwart, CEO and Brian Garret, CTO, of 3D Hubs are both former employees of which is widely credited with creating and fostering 3D printing and want to make 3D printing accessible to everyone, no matter where they are.

"3D Printing is about to do to product manufacturing what the internet did to music distribution, we're here to facilitate this revolution," said Brian Garret, CTO and co-founder, 3D Hubs. "3D Printing is the duct tape of the Internet generation and for the first time in history people can invent new products using tools widely available on the internet and have it made to order around the corner."

Think of 3D Hubs as sort of a networked Kinkos for 3D printing but a lot like Fon, which is a global Wifi network built "by the people" for the people. 3D Hubs already have the largest network of 3D printers with 540 printing locations - that isn't a huge number, but remember the market is still forming.

According to their press release, 3D printer owners use their device less than 10 hours per week, and 3D Hubs plans on taking the remaining 95 percent of that idle time. Printer owners earn money when their 3D printer is not in use, and simultaneously establish social connections within their local 3D maker community. 3D printer owners join the Hubs listing in their city to offer 3D printing services in their community. In this case, and you can see why Balderton backed them, they actually have a business model that makes sense.

Each Hub then decides how much money it wants to earn, and sets its own start-up price for a 3D print. 3D Hubs performs a 3D model repair check using Netfabb cloud software for each order to ensure the uploaded 3D-model is watertight, automatically repairs it if necessary, and once the 3D-model passes inspection, the order is processed and forwarded to the Hub. 3D Hubs adds a 15 percent commission on top of the price entered for each customer quote, processes the order, and collects the payment.

And here is the Foursquare part. According to the press release, cities within Europe are considered “unlocked” once 10 3D printers have been listed, while cities outside Europe are unlocked once 20 3D printers are listed. Unlocked cities right now are London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Antwerp and Copenhagen. Once a city is unlocked, a 3D Hubs Mayor is appointed to organize community events for 3D printing enthusiasts in their area. Customers use 3D Hubs to locate 3D printer owners in their neighborhood, and then order and pick up sustainable, locally printed objects in a matter of days instead of weeks.

See how 3D Hubs works here.

de Zwart believes that most well known 3D printing companies are still supplying globally from a handful of locations. We believe in a different approach. And that approach is that 3D printers is empowerment.

"We believe 3D printers will empower a new generation of makers and entrepreneurs, especially as pricing drops and quality improves. Manufacturing could then be distributed among communities," says de Zwart. "Using our platform, anyone with a 3D printer can bring customized, locally produced goods to those around them. Together, we strive to build communities that want to share the fun of making 3D printed products, while igniting a new industrial revolution in the process."